Chongqing- According to Chongqing Customs, in the first quarter of this year, the total value of Chongqing's foreign trade was 197.09 billion yuan (about 30.55 billion U.S. dollars) with an increase of 9.3% year on year. Among them, exports increased by 14% to 127.7 billion yuan, and imports were 69.39 billion yuan, showing an increase of 1.6%.

In March, the rise in Chongqing's import and export volume was 11.9% to 71.67 billion yuan, which was 6.1 percentage points higher than the overall national increase in the same period. There were 44.63 billion yuan for export value and 27.04 billion yuan for imports, with a rise of 11.4% and 12.6%, respectively.

The main features of Chongqing's foreign trade in the first quarter are as follows: 

Firstly, the foreign-invested enterprises' import-export volume made outstanding contributions. Throughout the first three months of the year, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises in Chongqing reached 98.92 billion yuan, achieving a growth of 12%. The import and export volume of private enterprises jumped by 7%, totaling 80.3 billion yuan, while the state-owned enterprises' value rose by 5.4%, totaling 17.72 billion yuan.

Secondly, the import and export of processing trade surged in double digits. The import and export of Chongqing's processing trade were 90.74 billion yuan, increasing 15.2% in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the general trade volume was 64.62 billion yuan, with a rise of 3.6%. And the import and export of bonded logistics were 41.01 billion yuan, achieving an increment of 6.6%.

Thirdly, imports and exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) showed stable growth in Q1, while the total foreign trade value to the United States (US) saw a decline during the same period. Chongqing's first-quarter imports and exports to ASEAN and the EU were 32.63 billion yuan and 29.78 billion yuan, respectively, going up 8% and 5.6%, separately. Imports and exports to the US were 24.54 billion yuan, dropping 5.2%. Besides, the value of countries along the Belt and Road Initiative experienced a 13.4% increase, whose overall volume reached 56.87 billion yuan.

Fourthly, the growth rate of imports and exports in the comprehensive bonded zone is higher than the overall. During the first quarter, the import-export value of Chongqing's comprehensive Bonded Zone achieved 135.65 billion yuan, up by 11.7%. This part accounted for 68.8% of Chongqing's total foreign trade, contributing 85.1% to the rise of Chongqing's foreign trade in the same period.

(Wang Yuxuan, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)